Gay Village

eWhen Antonin Mousseau-Rivard opened his restaurant, Le Mousso, in 2015 in Ville-Marie, it was an instant hit, resonating with a tasting menu full of novelties (deconstructed borscht, lamb tartare with green peas and grated goat cheddar, sponge cake with shallot ice cream and apple vinegar) and a super cool, minimalist dining room. And this year, Mousseau-Rivard added another component with the adjacent Le Petit Mousso—a more casual (and far less expensive) version with à la carte bar snacks for walk-ins.

Win Butler and Regine Chassagne are Montreal natives, though you probably know them better as members of the rock band Arcade Fire. What you probably didn’t know is that they’re also restaurateurs—they opened this Haitian bar and eatery in Ville-Marie in 2016 (Chassagne’s parents are from Haiti). As you might expect of a restaurant named after a type of French-Caribbean rum, the cocktails here are home runs. We’d go for the Kokonut, made with rum, coconut cream, and a mix of tangerine, lime, and passion fruit juices. And if you order only one thing from the food menu, make it the pain patate. It’s a rich, sweet potato cake soaked in sugarcane sauce, baked with nutmeg and cinnamon, and sprinkled with rum-macerated raisins and perfection.